Be ready to be spoilt for choices with all the seemingly endless possibilities been offered in Mont Residence at Tanjung Tokong.

In this unique offering, security check point will start from guard house. Access cards are needed to access the entrance to lift lobby, access to car park and also access to the designated floor once the lift is used. Security is treated with utmost importance.

Artist impression – Lobby (Level 1 & 2)

This unique building of thirty eight stories has a mountain facing its back and its very frontal end faces the breathtaking sea view. The building orientation faces northeast which is in line with Straits Quay & Tanjung Tokong view. To have the morning sun illuminating us from the east is indeed a very attractive proposition.

Live a healthy lifestyle

For those who enjoys a dip in the pool, there are three types of swimming pool (children’s play pool, adult lap pool & aqua gym pool with jacuzzi). A 2,000 sq.ft. fully equipped gym is available to tempt you further to lead a healthy lifestyle by incorporating a rigorous exercise regime in your daily routine if necessary.

A conference room on the twentieth floor for entrepreneurs’ use has the availability to cater for twenty people. A fully furnished dining room that has a capacity for thirty people (indoor & outdoor) is also available. Perhaps after the meeting, they could be tempted to venture to the roof top sky garden that offers a splendidly breathtaking view of the blue ocean via the viewing deck. Activities such a barbeque is possible and why would anyone turn down such invitation anyway especially with such tempting relaxing facilities?

Artist impression – Dining & Kitchen (Level 20)

There is even a golf putting green for golf enthusiasts to think about. A unique herbs garden is also part of the wide ranging facilities available.

Designed to pamper your family

Another central theme is the importance placed on ensuring enough family activities are possible. This includes children’s playground, children’s study area and tuition room. There is also a day care centre for babysitting possibilities for the convenience of working parents. It is important to spend some quality time together for families therefore a wading room for entertainment and leisure for the usage of families is made readily available too.

Family theme again takes a centre stage with its unique layout design that is suitable for family comfort with the introduction of a big living room coupled with a unique design of a dining and kitchen area. Master room has a spacious size of two hundred square feet that includes a walk in wardrobe area. The layout is most suitable for a family of four or five members.

Strategic location and accessibility

Strategically located within the established township of Tanjung Tokong, just a stone’s throw away from to all kinds of amenities like hospital, shopping malls, shops and many others. Morning market is just a walking distance away. After all, Tanjung Tokong is one of the most likeable places to live in Penang. Accessibility and location seems to go hand in hand here.

With all these possibilities, you will be very surprise to find that the market price of RM820 per square feet, with a whole range of comprehensive facilities is an attractive option for both investors and those that are keen to make it their new home.

Elderly couples that are hunting for condominiums with a comfortable yet spacious size will find the short walking distance to places that will be able to offer their daily basic needs like food a very tempting option. Idyllic greenery within the vicinity of the area will provide the kind of serenity just like the experience of living by the hillside.

Targeted to complete by the first quarter of 2018, this prestigious project is currently reaching 30% of the completion stage. Piling has already been completed and the construction of the super structure has commenced and it is also ahead of its schedule.

Indeed with such a myriads of possibilities, this project is one of its kind.

Exciting. Exceptional. Exclusive.

That’s Mont Residence Penang.

Click here to find out more about Mont Residence

[Sponsored Review]

by Charles Tan

According to Affin Hwang Capital Research, the property market of Penang will continue to be supported by the many major projects driven by public-private partnerships (PPPs). Some of them include the RM27bil Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) as well as a proposal for a RM11.3 billion business process outsourcing centre and an international technology park by Penang Development Corp (PDC) and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings. besides these PPPs, there are also property developers with huge mixed developments within Penang with total gross development value of up to RM60 billion! They include Eastern & Oriental, Eco World Development and Ewein Bhd.

Seems impressive and the numbers are huge but truth is, none of these have started. It should be soon and the two that I would be awaiting with interest would be the PPPs. These would be a catalyst for many more things to come. Without them, then it would be just the usual mixed developments which will find it harder to get even more buyers, especially if they are trying to sell ever higher prices in the areas which are considered hotspots such as Tanjung Tokong or Bayan Baru. Let’s be really savvy and understand that catalysts would take some time to happen and that’s why it should happen first before anyone starts buying, believing that whatever has been announced will happen. Yes, I rate this as the same as buying where new MRT stations are and thinking that buyers would buy them in future. Problem is, the current buyers are already paying a premium for these new launches near MRTs and they expect future buyers to pay premiums on top of their premiums to buy that property from them. Hmm…..

The research house also mentioned that Hewlett Packard chose Penang instead of Iskandar because the Penang government managed to convince them. Please understand that no MNCs would choose a state just because the state government tells / convinces them to. Not even investment friendly government policies. The reason is because these policies can be the friendliest in the states without much infrastructure to support these MNCs. If I am a new manufacturing company, I would choose Penang because of the availability of a skilled workforce. Penang is the hub for many world class research and manufacturing facilities since the days when Bayan Lepas Industrial Parks started. It may also be the logistics advantage, with airport and ports and even the train services, connecting Penang to the world. I am sure more would choose Penang. So, let’s wait for the next one.

One thing is for sure though, Penang is growing. When I first moved to Penang after my degree, Penang had just 1.2 million population. When I moved out of Penang, its population has already reached 1.7 million. With such a huge population, it meant that much of the growth were due to urbanisation. People moving to Penang for work and business opportunities. These would continue to fan the demands for more housing, as long as it remains affordable. Even though there has been many reports saying that Penang’s properties are way too expensive, I personally do not think so yet. Choices are still aplenty, the only issue is, are they at locations that these Penangites wanted. Just look at the second bridge today. There are hardly any cars. Batu Kawan is definitely not going to be a sudden sensation until 2018 at least. One major catalyst is supposed to be a new IKEA store.

Seriously though, let’s keep out focus on all the new catalysts that will keep the growth continuous. Give pressure to developers who try to tell the world that their projects are luxurious simply because you can see the sea and thus it has to be priced higher. Build good ones at affordable prices, buyers would come and profits will rise. Otherwise, be prepared to keep selling hard because the buyers today are much more well informed than those of yesterday. Comparisons can already be done easily. Distances and durations can even be calculated online! Happy loving Penang. I know I would too as I still have properties there.

>> This opinion article comes courtesy of my friend, Charles, the founder of kopiandproperty.com. He is popular for sharing his thought on property investment mostly based on his own 12 years experience as well as from all the readings and conversations with property gurus in the industry. (Source)

Featured article about population: Penang Island vs Mainland – Population

Runnymede Bay is a 5 acre seafront development along Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah in Georgetown, Penang. Strategically located next to Menara KWSP, only 5-minutes walking distance from E&O Hotel.

The proposed development will feature a mix of hotel and commercial properties, to be completed in two phases:

Phase 1: (45-storey mixed development)

• Commercial lots (level 1 & 2)
• Multi-level car park (level 3-11)
• Office suites at level 12-23 (44 units)
• Serviced residence (132 units)
• Condominium (98 units)

Phase 2:

• 48-storey hotel featuring 133 standard and 100 executive rooms
• Redevelopment of the existing 3-storey hotel with 18 rooms

This is currently pending for approval. More details to be available upon project launch.

Property Project : Runnymede Bay
Location : Georgetown, Penang
Property Type : Mixed development
Indicative Price : (to be confirmed)
Developer : Warisan Pinang Sdn. Bhd. (Runnymede Group)

Location Map:

An aerial view of Penang … high-rises in the state saw the most activity in the quarter under review, with prices increasing in all areas surveyed. Photos by Abdul Ghani Ismail

The Penang property market had an eventful first quarter, and the positive sentiments and values are expected to sustain, according to Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partners Sdn Bhd director Michael Geh. He attributes the upswing to the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax.

“In the first three months of this year, I saw people dashing to purchase a house from the primary market. As an observer of property fairs, I noticed that there was brisk business,” Geh says when presenting The Edge/Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partners Penang Housing Property Monitor for 1Q2015.

This observation, he adds, was confirmed by data from the National Property Information Centre (Napic), which was released recently. According to Napic, the primary market in Penang saw a 48.91% increase in total transactions to 4,095 last year, from 2,750 the year before. In contrast, the secondary market saw a 4.25% dip in transactions to 14,315, from 14,950 the previous year.

“Despite the loan rejections, I saw an upward trend last year and a continued upward trend of 3% to 5% in 1Q2015,” says Geh. Moving forward, he believes this trend will continue in the primary market, and expects to see another 5% increase in transactions.

He admits that he had been surprised to see the growth in the Penang property market, especially in the primary segment, despite the high loan rejection rate and restrictions in place.

“This is a significant trend,” Geh says.

One development that he believes will greatly impact the property market is the announcement of the Penang government’s plan for the light rail transit (LRT) alignment. To date, there are no details about the project but he is hopeful that it will be announced this year.

“The LRT is needed. This will be a game changer for Penangites,” he says.

As for the alignment, Geh believes the LRT will go through areas with a large population base. He thinks a good location for the main terminal would be somewhere near Menara Komtar, with a line passing through Jalan Dato Keramat and Jalan Air Itam, and then stopping at Jalan Paya Terubong.

He says the Air Itam valley — which has 30% to 40% of the island’s population — is the most populous area. A line along Jalan Kelawai, ending in Straits Quay, and one to the Penang International Airport would be good, he adds. He believes once the announcement is made, it will have an immediate positive impact on sentiments and property prices.

Terraced houses

For 1-storey terraced houses, the highest price gainers on the island during the quarter under review were those in Green Lane and Jelutong, both of which saw a 21.43% year-on-year increase to RM850,000 from RM700,000. On the mainland, houses in Seberang Perai Tengah rose 20% to RM200,000.

However, homes in Bandar Bayan Baru and Tanjung Bungah only rose marginally at 2% and 1.33% respectively. Geh explains that homeowners in these areas are just not selling.

Quarter on quarter, houses on the mainland saw a price increase, with those in Sungai Dua achieving the highest growth of 11.43% to RM780,000.

For 2-storey terraced houses, all areas surveyed experienced a price increase. Residences in Sungai Ara rose 26.67% y-o-y to RM950,000, followed by those in Sungai Nibong, which gained 25% to RM1.1 million. As for the mainland, Seberang Perai Selatan achieved the highest price increase of 27.27% y-o-y to RM280,000.

On a q-o-q basis, there were no changes seen in property prices, except for those in Pulau Tikus, which increased by 3.45%, and Sungai Ara, by 5.56%.

Semi-detached and detached houses

For the semidee segment, all areas saw a price increase. Houses in Island Park rose 27.91% to RM2.2 million from RM1.72 million a year ago. Those in Sungai Ara increased by 7.69%, Sungai Nibong by 6.06%, Sungai Dua by 7.14% and Minden Heights by 7.14%.

Q-o-q, only homes in Island Park (10%) and Sungai Ara (3.7%) saw price growth during the short time frame.

Meanwhile, a number of detached houses in the areas under survey saw price growth from the year before. Homes in Minden Heights saw a 25% increase to RM3.5 million, followed by those in Green Lane (16.67%), Tanjung Tokong (14.29%), Island Glades (12%) and Pulau Tikus (11.11%). Only residences in Tanjung Bungah showed no price increases, remaining at RM3.7 million since last year.

Geh explains that Tanjung Bungah is a mature neighbourhood with no available parcels to build on. Residents there are also not keen on selling their property. Nevertheless, like Damansara Heights in the Klang Valley, properties in Tanjung Bungah are much sought after.

In terms of quarterly results, there were no changes from the previous quarter.

Flats and condominium units

High-rises saw the most activity in the quarter under review, with prices increasing in all areas surveyed — both in the yearly and quarterly results. Geh says this was “because more people on the island prefer to stay in high-rises as landed properties are expensive”.

All 3-bedroom flats saw price increases, with those in Relau achieving the highest growth of 26.09% to RM290,000 from RM230,000 in the previous corresponding quarter. The second highest mover were flats in Bandar Baru Air Itam, which rose 11.11% to RM200,000.

As for the q-o-q performance, flats in Relau again achieved the highest price increase of 11.54%, while the rest saw single-digit growths.

All condos saw price increases as well, with units in Tanjung Tokong rising the most at 29.17% to RM620,000, followed by those in Tanjung Bungah (22.64%) and Pulau Tikus (19.23%).

Q-o-q, all units saw price increases, with condos in Tanjung Bungah (8.33%), Tanjung Tokong (6.9%) and Pulau Tikus (6.9%) being the top three performers.

Meanwhile, the overall rental market saw movements y-o-y, but q-o-q results were mainly unchanged. The rental rates of landed properties experienced more changes than those of high-rises.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets.com

Kensington Gardens, Parcel 1 of Jesselton Villas consists of freehold bungalow lots are guarded and surrounded by nature-inspired facilities and features. This exclusive development is strategically located within Batu Gantong, next to Penang Turf Club. It is only 5 minutes drive to Youth Park and Botanical Garden and close to all local amenities.

The current phase comprises 69 units of bungalow lots ranging from 5,995 sq ft to 9,634 sq ft in size.

Project Name : Kensington Gardens
Location: Penang Turf Club, Jalan Batu Gantong, Penang
Property Type : Luxury Bungalow Lot
Lot Size: 5,995 sq.ft. – 9,634 sq.ft.
Tenure : Freehold
Total Units : 69
Developer : Berjaya Properties
Indicative Price: RM 600 psf

Location Map: